Khazanah in talks to buy INCJ’s stake in tower firm Edotco

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional will acquire Innovation Network Corp of Japan’s (INCJ) stake in telecommunications tower company Edotco Group.

The deal reflects “the strong relationship between Malaysia and Japan,” Khazanah said in a statement late Friday (Mar 14), which confirmed an earlier Bloomberg News report on the acquisition.

There were no details given on the transaction value. 

Bloomberg News reported in October that Tokyo-based INCJ had contacted prospective buyers for its 21 per cent stake, which it needs to offload by the end of March, when its mandate to continue investment activities ends. Khazanah already owns about 37 per cent of Malaysia’s biggest cellular firm Axiata Group, which controls 63 per cent of Edotco. Khazanah also owns almost 11 per cent of Edotco directly.

INCJ announced in December 2016 that it was investing as much as US$400 million in Edotco. The Kuala Lumpur-based telecom infrastructure firm manages over 55,000 towers in Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the Philippines, Myanmar and Laos, its website shows. BLOOMBERG